Statutes Impacting Government Grant Awards

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Statutes Impacting Government Grant Awards

Note: Legislative Acts are part of the U.S. Code. Executive orders are part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The following are some Legislative Acts and Executive Orders that apply to federal grants.

Equal Employment Opportunity. All contracts awarded by grantees and their contractors and subrecipients having a value of more than $10,000 must contain a provision requiring compliance with Executive Order 11246, entitled "Equal Employment Opportunity" as amended by Executive Order 11375, and as supplemented in Department of Labor regulations (41 CFR, Part 60).

Copeland "Anti-Kick Back" Act (18 U.S.C. 874). All contracts and subgrants in excess of $2,000 for construction or repair awarded by grantees and subrecipients shall include a provision for compliance with the Copeland "Anti-Kick Back" Act (I8 V.S.C. 874) as supplemented in Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR, Part 3). The Act provides that each contractor or subrecipient shall be prohibited from inducing, by any means, any person employed in the construction, completion, or repair of public work, to give up any part of the compensation to which he is otherwise entitled. The grantee shall report all suspected or reported violations to the Federal awarding agency.

Davis-Bacon Act (U.S.C. 276a to a-7). All construction contracts awarded by the grantee and subrecipients of more than $2,000 shall include a provision for compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 276a to a-7) and as supplemented by Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR, Part 5). Under this Act contractors shall be required to pay wages to laborers and mechanics at a rate not less than the minimum wages specified in a wage determination made by the Secretary of Labor. In addition, contractors shall be required to pay wages not less than once a week. The grantee shall place a copy of the current prevailing wage determination issued by the Department of Labor in each solicitation and the award of a contract shall be conditioned upon the acceptance of the wage determination. The grantee shall report all suspected or reported violations to the Federal sponsoring agency.

Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 327-330). Where applicable, all contracts awarded by grantees in excess of $100,000 for construction contracts and other contracts that involve the employment of mechanics or laborers, shall include a provision for compliance with sections 102 and 107 of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. 327-330) as supplemented by Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR, Part 5). Under section 102 of the Act, each contractor shall be required to compute the wages of every mechanic and laborer on the basis of a standard work-day of 8 hours and a standard work week of 40 hours. Work in excess of the standard workday or workweek is permissible provided that the worker is compensated at a rate of not less than 1l/2 times the basic rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 8 hours in any calendar day or 40 hours in the workweek. Section 107 of the Act is applicable to construction work and provides that no laborer or mechanic shall be required to work in surroundings or under working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to his/her health and safety and health standards promulgated by the Secretary of Labor. These requirements do not apply to the purchases of supplies or materials or articles ordinarily available on the open market, or contracts for transportation or transmission of intelligence.

Bayh-Dole Act or Rights to Inventions and Materials Generated Under a Contract or Agreement (CFR 37 401). Public Law 96-517 changed the presumption of title to any invention made by small business, universities and other non-profit entities through the use, in whole or in part, of government funds :!Tom the government to the contract or grantee. Another factor, often overlooked, is that the Act did away with the distinction between grants and contracts, which agencies had often made when dealing with universities, a distinction which a number of agencies rigorously applied in their zeal to retain rights to intellectual property as a contractual obligation.

Clean Air Act of 1970 (42 V.S.C. 7401 et seq.) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 V.S.C. 1251 et seq.) as Amended. Contracts and subgrants of amounts in excess of $1 00,000 shall contain a provision that requires the recipient to agree to comply with all applicable standards, orders or regulations issued pursuant to the Clean Air Act of 1970 (42 V.S.C. 7401 et seq.) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended (33 V.S.C. 125 I et seq.). Violations shall be reported to the Federal sponsoring agency and the Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment (31 V.S.c. 1352). Contractors who apply or bid for an award of$ I 00,000 or more must file a certification with the grantee stating that they will not and have not used Federal appropriated funds to pay any person or organization for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a member of Congress, officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a member of Congress in connection with obtaining any Federal contract, grant, cooperative agreement, loan, or any other award covered by 31 V.S.C. 1352. Such contractors must also disclose to the grantee any lobbying that takes place in connection with obtaining any Federal award.

Debarment and Suspension (E.O. 12549 and 12689). No contracts shall be made to parties listed on the General Services Administration's Lists of Parties Excluded class="GramE">From Federal Procurement or Nonprocurement Programs in accordance with Executive Orders 12549 and 12689. These lists contain the names of contractors debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment by agencies, and contractors declared ineligible under other statutory or regulatory authority other than Executive Order 12549. Grantees are required to obtain a certification regarding debarment and suspension from all subrecipients and from all parties with whom they contract for goods or services when (I) the amount of the contract is $100,000 or more, or (2) when, regardless of the amount of the contract, the contractor will have a critical influence or substantive control over the covered transaction. Such persons would be project directors and providers of federally-required audit services.

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, class="GramE">41 V.S.C. 701. Requires grantees to have an on-going drug-free awareness program; to publish a statement notifying employees that the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance is prohibited in the grantee's workplace; to maintain evidence that this statement was given to each employee engaged in the performance of the grant; and to identify in the funding proposal or to keep on file in its office the place(s) where grant activities will be carried out.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (as amended), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended), class="GramE">the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (as amended). Therefore, no person on grounds of race, color, national origin, disability, or age shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subject to discrimination under a program funded by the Federal government. In addition, if a project involves an educational activity or program, as defined in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, no person on the basis of sex shall be excluded from participation in the project. Grantees shall at the time of application certify that their programs operate in compliance with the requirements of the nondiscrimination statutes and their implementing regulations. Grantees are also required to obtain an executed certification of compliance with the nondiscrimination statute~, from all organizations that are subrecipients under a grant.

Research Misconduct. In accordance with 42 CFR Part 50, Subpart A, any institution receiving Federal grant support will inquire into and, if necessary, investigate and resolve promptly and fairly all instances of alleged or apparent research misconduct. Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.

Buy American Act. Consistent with the Buy American Act, 41 V.S.C. 10a-c and Public Law 105-277, grantees and subrecipients who purchase equipment and products with grant funds should purchase only American-made equipment and products.

Seat-Belt Usage. Executive Order 13043 of April 16, 1997 requires each Federal agency to encourage contractors, subcontractors and grantees to adopt and enforce on-the-job seat belt policies and programs for their employees when operating company-owned, rented, or personally owned vehicles.

Military Recruiting and ROTC Program Access to Institutions of Higher Education. Section 588 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1995, as implemented in 32 CFR Parts 23 and 216, that precludes grant awards to schools that the Department of Defense (DoD) determines have an anti-ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) policy or practice (regardless of when implemented) that either prohibits or, in effect, prevents, the Secretary of Defense from gaining entry to campuses or access to students or information for military recruiting purposes. class="GramE">DoD publishes each determination of ineligibility in the Federal Register as well as publishing, once every 6 months, a list of all currently ineligible schools.

Title IX Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX bans gender discrimination at institutions that receive federal funds. Most often applied to athletics, the law also applies to participation of women in the sciences, particularly under Federal grant. The onus of enforcement is on universities, but agencies are also required to develop and implement procedures for investigating complaints. The Government Accounting Office issued a report on this topic on July 22, 2004. (See www.gao.gov/new.items/d04639.pdf)